This Guy
by Mai1
Summary: A stranger's look at Jack Bristow after the events of Phase One


Title: This Guy  
  
Author: Mai  
  
Email: Maisfeeka@AOL.com  
  
Feedback: Always nice  
  
Distribution: Cover Me. Any others, just let me know, please.  
  
Disclaimer: Alias and its characters do not belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended here.  
  
Spoilers: Up through Phase One  
  
Summary: A stranger's look at Jack Bristow after the events of Phase One  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Classification: Post Ep, angsty  
  
A/N: Thanks to Karen for her lovely beta! :)  
  
******************  
  
He looked half dead when they brought him in.  
  
It was part of that whole SD-6/Alliance take down. They told us to stand ready for casualties. One of the advantages of having the equivalent of a fully functional small hospital on site is that we really can take care of our own.  
  
Now, this guy, when he came in -- well, first, he hadn't gotten hurt during the take down. No, this guy had been *tortured* and I mean big-time. Electric shock. The welts on his legs were un-fucking-believable. And he was dead gray. You know, how they always say people look almost gray with shock or whatever? But this guy looked . well... *gray* for real.  
  
Okay, honestly, I thought maybe he was dead when they brought him in, but then I could see that weird muscle twitch you get when someone's had a kajillion volts run through them. Or the way they say you'll see it. It's not like I'd ever actually seen something like that before.  
  
The way everyone hopped to it when he got in let me know this was some kind of VIP type. And when I found out he was *the* Jack Bristow -- he's like this legend around here -- I could totally understand it.  
  
They ran a ton of tests on him. I guess they were especially worried about his heart, and hell, they'd have to be, right? I mean, not only did he have all that electro-shock torture stuff, the guy's *old* - you know, at least for an *agent*. Anyway, they ran all these tests and he was pretty much conscious through the whole thing. You could tell all the attention made him uncomfortable. Like, if he'd had the strength he would've told them all to go to hell.  
  
But he couldn't, so he put up with it -- but you knew he wasn't happy about it. He asked about somebody and one of the guys there looked a little uncomfortable and said she was fine, but they didn't think she was coming in just then.  
  
And this look came over his face -- like he was so sad, but also kind of like it was something he'd expected. And he just turned his head to the side and didn't say anything else.  
  
They said they wanted to sedate him to give all his systems a chance to relax -- recover from all the trauma -- wanted to keep him there at least overnight. I figured he'd refuse, insist on going home. Just generally give them a hard time, you know?  
  
But he just nodded. Didn't look at any of them, just kept his head turned to the side and stared off into space with that *look*.  
  
I got tapped to move him into one of the rooms and I can tell you, that look really got to me. It was like... well, it was like that look my grandpa had a little while before he died.  
  
I remember going to see him in the nursing home -- all kinda nervous, you know, 'cause I was just a kid and the place smelled funny and had this ... lost... feeling about it. Kind of hopeless, maybe. And I remember standing in the doorway to the room, wishing I was pretty much anywhere else, and my Grandpa saying, "What was the point?"  
  
I remember he looked off into space and said, "Everything I've worked so hard to accomplish is done. It's all finished. And at the end of it all I'm here alone. And I'm left wondering, what was the point?"  
  
I guess it's always just stuck in my head 'cause I figured maybe that's why the place felt the way it did. Like there was just nothing left.  
  
I swear, that's just the way this guy, Agent Bristow, looked -- like there was just nothing left.  
  
And he was all alone -- no family, no nothing.  
  
Now, normally, once we get somebody settled in we head out -- see to other stuff, you know? But I just, well, it was like I couldn't leave him. I just couldn't stand the thought of him there alone.  
  
So I stayed.  
  
I pulled up a chair and sat where he could see me if he opened his eyes -- not that I thought he would.  
  
And I just stayed...  
  
It was pretty quiet by then and I was almost off anyway. Nobody asked me why I was there. They'd come in, check on him and kind of give me this half-smile and a nod, like they understood. I stayed there, just sitting, for maybe four or five hours, till the sun started coming up.  
  
I don't know why it felt like it was okay to leave then, but it did. I went over and opened the blinds before I left. Stupid, I guess, but I had this crazy feeling that maybe if he opened his eyes and saw the sun coming up, maybe he'd feel like it was a new day starting for him too.  
  
Like I said, stupid.  
  
Aw, hell. I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I guess the guy, he just made an impression on me, you know?  
  
******************** ~Mai 


End file.
